How Facebook's Job-Search Feature Can Help You Land Your Next Job

Facebook has always been a great place to connect with family and friends about all things social. Now, it’s also an effective way to connect with your next potential employer. In February 2017, Facebook opened up its new job board feature, where employers can post jobs directly to their company page or a specific jobs page and job seekers can apply to them immediately through Facebook.

If you’re wondering whether this is viable, consider this: Business Insider states there are 65 million businesses are currently using Facebook pages, and a recent study by Jobvite found Facebook to be the second most popular social network for recruiters.

Currently, posting is free for employers and there’s no set limit of posts per page, making the site even more enticing for businesses with many jobs to fill.

Here’s how to begin using Facebook as a key part of your job-search process.

Review your Facebook page settings

Facebook stresses that employers will only be able to see your public information. Yet, that still begs the question: What would you want a recruiter or hiring manager to see?

Unless you alter them, your privacy settings aren’t affected when you search for a job. Be sure there’s nothing that would hurt a potential employer’s first impression of you. Doing this on the front end will ensure that your profile is always accurate and will prevent you having to change it each time you apply for a job.

Also, make sure your Facebook resume puts you in the best possible light as a candidate who wants to work for a specific organization. For example, since Facebook limits the skills you can list, be sure to show your most relevant abilities and be as specific as possible. Use the projects tool to showcase key contributions and accomplishments from past jobs and to list out any quantifiable career achievements.

Create a list of companies to explore

Have you ever been caught in “the Facebook void?” You start out looking for one specific thing and then 30 minutes later, you realize you’ve been pulled way off topic.

To avoid this when job searching, create a list of companies you want to work for based on your research and then visit each company site to see if they’re hiring. It makes the process more efficient.

Some things to look for in your target companies include culture, work-life balance, number of employees, distance from your home, and whether you can relate to the organization’s values. Consider checking with former colleagues about their current companies, or using your LinkedIn network to see if you have connections at the companies you listed.

Another idea is to use Google News Alerts. By setting this up, you can keep up to speed on what’s happening in a particular company and in the industry as a whole. This includes keeping tabs on who is hiring and who isn’t.

Locate jobs and start applying

Facebook job postings can be found in two places: on a specific company’s Facebook page under the Jobs tab and on a separate jobs page that you can use to search all job listings by location, industry, skill, and job type. If you’re on the mobile app, go to the Jobs tab under More. Then, start looking for open positions and keep these points in mind:

When you find a job that interests you, click the “Apply Now” button which takes you to a page that’s pre-populated with your name, education, and any other information that’s public on your site.

If needed, you can make changes before you submit your data, but doing it once on the front end will save time and avoid potential mistakes.

You can’t upload a resume at this time, but there’s a 1,000-character text box to create a cover letter or add detailed information about why you’re the best person for the job.

Hit “send” to get your information over to the company via a Facebook message. The company will then communicate with you through Messenger unless stated otherwise.

Be sure to “like” and follow any companies that interest you. By doing this, any new job postings the company creates will show up immediately in your news feed. You can also hit the Subscribe button for the same result.

Watch for more from Facebook

Various experts believe that this initial version of Facebook job searches is just a hint of what’s to come and that a more robust version is in the works — especially as it positions itself to rival LinkedIn. Facebook announced plans to expand its job-search feature to an additional 40 countries. Stay tuned for more to come!